This morning I read a blog that reflected my emotions after reading about the terrible murder of Park Ranger Margaret Anderson by a young man who, by all appearances, was an ex-soldier suffering PTSD.
The tragedy of Margaret Anderson was enough, but I felt it was compounded by the death of the shooter – an also needless and senseless death. My heart is torn: for the family, friends and co-workers of Margaret Anderson, first and foremost. I still remember quite vividly the moment I realized my own father carried a concealed handgun with him whenever he went out into the National Forest to patrol. I was around the age of 15 and I asked him, point-blank, why he carried a hand gun.
“There are people out there who would shoot first,” was his candid reply.
It had never occurred to me before that moment that a Forest Ranger or a Park Ranger was a dangerous job (aside from the obvious animal dangers).
The story of the man who killed Margaret Anderson also struck a chord with me: a young man who had been deployed, who was suffering from bouts of PTSD, in trouble with the courts and his ex-wife, who went over the edge. Initial reports claimed he had survival training; his death by hypothermia and drowning suggest otherwise. Personally, I suspect his was a suicide. A very slow suicide.
I don’t want to defend Benjamin Colton Barnes. There is no defense. But I wonder about our country’s response to young men and women returning from war with the scars of PTSD on their psyches. Would it have changed anything if Barnes had been able to seek and find the help he so desperately needed? What triggered him to act out so blindly and aggressively over the weekend? Are we doing enough for our veterans?
I am immensely proud of my own son who is a soldier in the US Army. I love my country. Like my friend, Jodi, who wrote the blog I read this morning, I just am left with some questions.
Sharing this is something I had to think very hard about. It’s a departure from my usual post. I’m breaking a personal rule here: leaping into something that could be construed as a political statement. I just feel the questions need to be asked and they need to be asked by the mothers and the spouses of the soldiers returning from war. Please read with an open mind (including the comments, if you will) this post from The Hidden Springs Hillbillies.
Jaci Dawn 
I share the sentiment that more could and should be done for our Warriors. Many come home appearing to be well but will continue to fight this war long after it is officially over. I won’t say more because I would be speaking without permission but I personally know many Marines and Sailors whose lives will NEVER be the same and instead of aggressively treating them, slack evaluations are given or other excuses to nudge them to a place that the Military is no longer responsible for them.
I think we owe them our best of everything. They offered their lives in the line of service, we need to help them live a life upon returning from the war, to the very best we can.
It was a tragedy what happened for sure. But think of the thousands of men and women diagnoised and undiagnoised with PTSD that will flood into civilian life as this drawn down of troops continues and the war eventually ends. What treatment will be available to them? Will they even know or recognize the signs and symptoms of needing help. They are after all trained to never show weakness.